Friday, June 05, 2009

No hurry by Sangamon County State's Attorney John Schmidt

It was Feb. 17 when Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan sent impeachment committee documents and transcripts to Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Schmidt so that Schmidt could determine whether the evidence justified perjury charges against Sen. Roland Burris.

It's been 108 days now and Schmidt, a Republican, is still pondering.

I don't believe in rushing to judgment (andI don't happen to believe that Burris committed perjury), but come on! The relevant portions of the hearing aren't very long. The factual context is not all that large. And while I'm sure the case law is fairly extensive, this is a matter of national importance. Was it too much to ask that Schmidt spend a few nights and weekends studying it?

"He's on vacation," said a woman who identified herself as Schmidt's office manager when I called Friday to ask what's taking so long. "There's quite a bit of paperwork to do and still some meetings he has to hold. He's hoping that, once he gets back from vacation, it won't take but a few weeks for him to announce his decision."

Comments

You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

Schmidt is a classic political coward!
He's waiting hoping Burris will resign because of some new outrage & Schmidt then doesn't have to take a stand on this.
Any stand, that includes saying Burris didn't do something wrong, which considering he's told about 20 different stories makes that unlikely.
If Burris doesn't quit, then watch this "investigation" to slowly fade away.
Pepe LePew has more backbone than Schmidt & probably stinks less than him!

It's in the Republican party's best interest to save any talk about Democratic corruption and possible perjury charges until the start of the next campaign season. I imagine Schmidt will keep pondering until then.

Why should the Republicans do the Democrats' dirty work for them? The Republicans want do everything they can to keep Burris safe in his seat until the next election. If the Democrats want to get rid of Burris, it is up to them to do it.

About "Change of Subject."

"Change of Subject" by Chicago Tribune op-ed columnist Eric Zorn contains observations, reports, tips, referrals and tirades, though not necessarily in that order. Links will tend to expire, so seize the day. For an archive of Zorn's latest Tribune columns click here. An explanation of the title of this blog is here. If you have other questions, suggestions or comments, send e-mail to ericzorn at gmail.com.
More about Eric Zorn

Contributing editor Jessica Reynolds is a 2012 graduate of Loyola University Chicago and is the coordinator of the Tribune's editorial board. She can be reached at jreynolds at tribune.com.